Anti-intellectualism Is Destroying Democracy In America

[Mort Rainey]

[snappyturtle]

1. Can't agree more. Thanks for posting this video.

Welcome to DU!

[alterfurz]

3. "The tyranny of the ignoramuses...

...is insurmountable and assured for all time." -- Albert Einstein

[daleanime]

11. Two great qoutes....

[dotymed]

2. Thank you Mort and Pap.

Just like the southern plantation owners would kill anyone who educated the slaves, all non-elite Americans have become the slaves.
TPTB know that with the inability to reason, comes the gullibility to believe their lies and blindly follow their people destroying
messaging.
This is truly, blatantly obvious in the South and all red states. When I, a repatriated southerner retired from a great Union speak politics to just about any person my age, here in Tn., they think I am a "commie." These are childhood friends.
My Daughter is a H.S. teacher in an economically disadvantaged area. She detests "teaching" doublespeak, hoping that these disadvantaged young people will be able to regurgitate it on their govt. approved standardized tests.
It doesn't take a C.T. to observe that todays "educators" are low paid propaganda peddlers. Most hate it and hope to find a few
young minds to actually teach to think and reason for themselves.
Goebbels (?) would be proud. Hell, America has been using propaganda to control the populace before Hitler ever came to power.

Warren says that she will not run for POTUS, Sanders has said that he might.
Please, his proven "for the people" record speaks for itself. Do not put party before people, we can change the status quo.
IMO, Bernie is our best chance for a non-violent coup.

[valerief]

4. The very wealthy have their own brainwashing, but, unlike the rest of us,

they BENEFIT from their brainwashing. The 99%er RW-brainwashed believers don't get jackshit for their brainwashing, just anger directed at the wrong targets.

Welcome to DU.

[mountain grammy]

5. K & R for Mike Papantonio

one of the voices of truth in America. Thanks for the post and welcome to DU.

[L0oniX]

6. I think the cat has been out of the bag since GWB took the stage.

[IHateTheGOP]

7. Democracy depends on an informed electorate

Many Americans are the dumbest people on earth. I'm looking at you Republikans (sp appropriate).

[raouldukelives]

8. Smart enough to pull lever but not enough to question why.

For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Push of the button here, someone losses a home there. Flick of a switch here, someone starves to death there. Burn a little fuel now, world burns a little more later.
The last thing people hell bent on world exploitation through financial deception and military aggression want are people questioning the veracity of their reasoning.

[Beowulf42]

9. Huh?

I've been saying this for years. As a teacher for 30 years I observed the constant barrage of anger generated against important eras of history and the ridiculing of the concept of individual thought, and the disdain for logic that has grown within American culture over the last 60 years. When every syllogism ends in "freedumb" one has to conclude that the instrument producing them is defective. When I visit foreign places the first question the natives ask is, "What's wrong with America?" It makes me angry and sad at the same time.

[Nay]

15. Yeah, really -- like this is news? Anyone who's older than 30 has noticed the

decline. Ten years ago on a trip to Canada, we met a number of nice couples who asked that very question: "What's wrong with the US?" As a dual citizen myself, I regret that I did not move my family to Canada when the kid was little; I hadn't known then that I was eligible, so I try to forgive myself, but it's still hard. We would have had a much nicer life there.

I hear that "freeedumb" crap from Mr Nay's relatives, who, if it were up to them, wouldn't even want to be taxed for public roads or food inspection, never mind schools ("I don't have any kids in school!&quot , health care ("I shouldn't have to pay for people who are fat or smoke!&quot and a host of other public goods. It was no use trying to explain that our society in general benefits from everyone being as well-educated as possible, as healthy as possible, etc. His relatives also believe that corporations are only out for our best interests, because of course we as CONSUMERS (don't you hate being a consumer in what is supposed to be a democracy?) can tell them what to do by our buying habits. . . riiiiiight. No amount of evidence that corporations shape our whole society to profit themselves was accepted. It was surreal.

And don't get me started on the whole college degree scam. At a former workplace, idiots with U of Phoenix degrees who couldn't even write one correct sentence in English, were promoted over people without degrees but who had excellent writing, speaking, and composing skills.

[damnedifIknow]

10. Boo!

Oh Mr. Conservative, the boogeyman is going to get you.

[FairWinds]

12. The Right absolutely revels in its . .

ignorance, and in fact flaunts it.
My favorite was Dubya not pronouncing "nuclear"
properly in eight consecutive state of the union messages.
He just could not be bothered to demonstrate third grade
language skills.
And of course no one ever called him on it.

[FiveGoodMen]

13. Amen!

(so to speak )

[prairierose]

14. I love Jacoby's book....

it is pretty dense and takes quite a bit of digesting but after I borrowed it from the library, I bought a copy.

[zebonaut]

16. No books; No Huffington Post; but lots of guns and NASCAR

[Populist_Prole]

18. And football

Sports in general, from what I notice. Honestly, it's truly a curious phenomenon to witness among RW dolts: In minds otherwise utterly devoid of the ability to think critically, and amazing capacity to think and discuss the minutia of those above subjects. I shake my head and wonder if an analogy like this may apply: As if they had very small "processors" and so much of that processing power is taken up by BS like guns, religion, sports and celeb worship, that by the time you factor in basic body functions, there's nothing left over for shit that actually matters.

[Populist_Prole]

17. Righteous rant!

He was describing every single RW-er I know. He left no stone unturned. I am now through with categorizing their views as mere differences of opinion. It's categorically honest; intellectually honest to just say they're plain stupid. And they are.